Summary of 2 Samuel

Summary of 2 Samuel

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):
2 Samuel 1-2: David Kills the Amalekite Who Killed Saul/David is King of Judah
2 Samuel 3-4: David and Saul Wage War/Saul's Captains are Slain
2 Samuel 5-6: David: King of Jerusalem/The Ark of the Lord in the City of David
2 Samuel 7-8: A House of the Lord/David Defeats Many
2 Samuel 9-10: Restoration of the Land of Saul/Israel Defeats: Amonites and the Syrians
2 Samuel 11-12: David Lies with Bath-sheba/Plural Marriage
2 Samuel 13-14: Ammon Rapes his Sister Tamar/Absalom Sees the King after Years
2 Samuel 15-16: Absalom Conspires Against David/Ahithophel Counsels Absalom
2 Samuel 17-18: Ahithophel's Counsel is overthrown/Joab Slays Absalom
2 Samuel 19-20: David Returns to Jerusalem/Sheba Leads Away the Tribes
2 Samuel 21-22: The Lord Sends a Famine/The Lord Blesses Those Who Trust Him
2 Samuel 23-24: Rulers Must be Just/David Sins; The Lord Sends Pestilence

Summary of 2 Samuel:

                After learning of Saul's defeat by the Philistines, David sings a song lamenting over the deaths of Saul and his friend Jonathan. David travels back to Hebron where his followers and the tribe of Judah anoint him as king. During this time, Saul's chief commander, Abner starts a sort of insurrection and instates Saul's son, Ish-Bosheth as King of Israel. War follows between Abner's men and the army of Joab (David's general). Ish-Bosheth falsely accuses Abner of sleeping with one of his concubines, Abner decides to defect and go to the side of David. David welcomes Abner, and Abner convinces the other tribes of Israel to recognize David as king of Israel. Two of Ish-Bosheth's men betray their ruler and cut his head off to present to David. David is horrified that these men committed such a crime and have both of them publicly executed. The tribes declare David, King.

                David leads the Israelites onward into battle, conquering the city of Jerusalem. He builds a palace their and calls the area the "City of David" aka "Zion". David takes care of a massive Philistine threat and manages to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  The Ark is brought in an elaborate procession with singing and dancing. Michal (David's wife) is upset over his embarrassing act of dancing and singing. David's prophet Nathan receives a message from God, the message is good.  Israel will be granted rest from opposition and promises that the kingdom of David will last forever. David continues in enlarging his borders and making diplomatic relations with surrounding foreign nations.

                One day, from the roof of David's palace he sat and watched a woman bathing. Her name was Bathsheba, David summons for the woman and brings her into his bedroom and sleeps with her. He finds out shortly later that she became pregnant as a result of this lustful act. David, to try and cover up his sin calls for Bathsheba's husband Uriah to be sent to the front lines, so he will die on the battle field. Uriah is killed on the battlefield and David marries Bathsheba. Nathan (David's prophet) confronts David about this and tells him a parable. The parable is about a wealthy man who steals a poor man's only prized sheep. David is outraged over this act of selfishness and that is when Nathan tells David that the story is about HIM! Nathan predicts that God will come down on David and his household for his sin. David repents and fasts for many days, but still when his son is born he dies during childbirth! Afterward David is forgiven and Bathsheba bares another son, Solomon.

                David's older son Amnon falls in love with his half-sister Tamar and rapes her. David is furious but does nothing. Tamar's brother Absalom however is very unhappy and wants to do something about it. So he invited Amnon out to the country, where he and David's other sons murder Amnon. Absalom flees to a city of refuge for 3 years. David, after having mourned for Amnon, allowes his son Absalom back to Jerusalem.

                After coming back, Absalom plots a conspiracy to overthrow David and his throne. Through warmth and kindness and deceit he is pronounced King by his followers and David is forced to flee Jerusalem with his men and the people of the country side weep as they see him flee. One of Saul's family members sees them and screams/shouts obscenities while throwing rocks at David and his men. David tells his men to just let him be. Absalom enters Jerusalem and in a display of defiance, rapes David's concubines.  Absalom's aides advise him to attack David immediately, while another aide (a spy for David) convinces Absalom to wait and Absalom takes that aides advice. With this delay, David manages to get an army built up large enough to kill 20,000 of Absalom's men in the forests of Ephraim. Absalom while riding through the forest in battle is caught by a branch and hangs. Joab finds him hanging in the tree and ignores David's instructions to treat Absalom gently and drives three spears into Absaloms hanging body. When David finds out about the death he screams for his son.

                To the frustration of his officials, David shows mercy to all of Absalom’s supporters who approach him for forgiveness, especially Absalom’s commander Amasa. David sends messengers to the leaders of Judah, and the tribe welcomes him back to Jerusalem. The remaining tribes (Absalom’s chief supporters) fear that David will be angry at them. An uprising follows, but Joab traps the rebels in a city and the city’s residents hand over the severed head of the rebel leader. Angered that David has shown mercy to Amasa, Joab stabs Amasa one day while pretending to greet him.

                David rebuilds his throne with continued acts of local diplomacy and with military victories over the Philistines. He composes a song praising God as a loving and kind deliverer, and the narrator briefly recounts the feats of David’s most famous fighting men.

2 Samuel 23-24

2 Samuel 23-24

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 23: Rulers Must be Just

                David speaks (some of) his last words;

                "...He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." (2 Samuel 23:3). This is something really important, especially in today's political scene. Rulers must always fear God, if they do this they will be successful! If not, they will be responsible for their actions.

                The rest of the chapter speaks of how David was not a great ruler, but God will bless them for their everlasting covenant. He also mentions the names of his mighty men and their deeds.

Chapter 24: David Sins; The Lord Sends Pestilence

           

                David decides to number Israel and Judah, which combines 1, 300,000 troops! This angers the Lord and he sends a famine, that kills 70,000 men! David tells Gad; "...let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man" (2 Samuel 24:14). We learn hear of the importance of being in the hands of God. Sometimes it is not popular to be with God, but whose hands would you rather be in? I think I would rather be in the hands of God and NOT MAN!

                David sees an Angel of the Lord, with whom he had sent. The Angel prepares to deliver more destruction, but David pleads with God and God decides to stop the destruction... because David repented of what he had done.

2 Samuel 21-22

2 Samuel 21-22

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 21: The Lord Sends a Famine

                The Lord sends a famine to Israel, while King David reigned, the famine lasted for 3 years. David went to the Lord and inquired of the reasoning behind the famine. The Lord responded by saying that it was because of Saul and what he had done to the Gibeonites. So David goes to them and asks them how he can atone for what Saul had done. They respond by telling him that they want nothing more than the sons of Saul to be hanged unto the Lord. So David sends all of the children of Saul, except Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan who was the son of Saul.

                7 of the children of Saul are delivered to the Gibeonites and are hanged on the first day of the barley harvest. Rizpah, who was the mother of two of Saul's children held a vigil over the dead bodies until it rained. This means that the famine was over and justice had finally been brought to Israel. David finds the bones of Saul and Jonathan and takes them along with the seven to give them a proper burial.

                During a battle with the Philistines, David grows weak and is almost killed by one of the descendents of Goliath, but Abishai saves him. David grows older and older, but with the help of his other three servants; Sibbechai, Elhanan, and Jonathan... Israel is able to continue in power! By the hand of David and his servants, they killed Goliath and all his giant offspring.

Chapter 22: The Lord Blesses Those Who Trust Him

                David sings a praise to the Lord. The entire chapter has a Psalm sort of feel to it, so I will include the verses that I felt most important in my reading.

                "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter unto his ears" (2 Samuel 22:7) - Some people believe that God has abandoned them in their times of trouble. On July 8, 1838, Joseph Smith was in distress. He along with other leaders of the restored church of Jesus Christ were locked up in prison (for no reason). Joseph Smith was hungry, tired and sick. Not only were Joseph and his leaders suffering in prison, but members of the church all over were being persecuted, raped and murdered! He cried out to the Lord; "O God, where art thou? And where is the pavillion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?" (Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-3)

                The Lord responded; "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure well, God shall exhalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes" (Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8). So what do we learn here? We learn that even in the darkest of hours, the Lord is with us. Often times we do not fully understand the "WHY", but the Lord does and he needs us to be patient and endure well. Maybe he is training us for something worse, or setting us up for something better. We never know, but if we are loyal to him, we will have the power to triumph over all our foes.

                David continues with his Psalm; and says that "With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward (deceitful, perverted or crooked) thou wilt she thyself unsavoury." (2 Samuel 22:27). Essentially if we are good and follow God's commandments, we will always see the good in God and feel of his love and warmth. But if we are deceitful, perverted or crooked, we will always see God in a different light and we will think of him as bad. Why? Because those who are perverted or crooked, will never feel the warmth and love of God, like those who love God and show their love, by following his commandments!

                "It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me" (2 Samuel 22:48). Essentially, we must sometimes give up our hate and just love our enemies and let God deal with their mis-deeds.

2 Samuel 19-20

2 Samuel 19-20

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 19: David Returns to Jerusalem

                As all of Israel celebrates their great victory, they start to succeed into their homes, because of the great anguish of the king. The people feel like they have won the war, and should be proud... but feel guilt for celebrating the death of the King's son, so they become ashamed. Joab goes into King David and tells him that he needs to give up his mourning. After all there does exist something called too much mourning. He tells King David that he is being selfish and needs to get out and speak to his people and encourage them.

                The people of Israel needed to see their king in his place of authority. Although David doesn't want to reign, if the people don't want him. So the tribes of Israel organize together and make a collective decision about whether or not to have David back as their king.

                David agrees to replace Joab with Amasa, who will be the new leader of the army. This is to put Joab in his place and also show face to the side who had supported Absalom.

                Shimei comes before David and asks for his forgiveness. Remember Shimei? He threw rocks at David in chapter 16. Also remember Mephiboseth? The one who was slandered by his servant Ziba in chapter 16? Well Mephiboseth tells King David that he really wasn't trying to take the kingdom from him. So King David takes half of the land which he had granted to Ziba and gave it to Mephiboseth, because he did not believe on going back on his promise (even if it was a promise made under false information.)

Chapter 20: Sheba Leads Away the Tribes

                David officially returns to Jerusalem and finds insurrection. Sheba was running the rebellion and believed that David was not eligible, nor did he belong on the throne. Sheba manages to take 10 tribes of Israel away, but Judah remained loyal to their king.

                David takes the 10 concubines that were raped by Absalom and has them "shut up", secluded and away from everyone until the day they died. What can we learn from that? OUR SIN AFFECTS OTHERS! If we use our agency to do evil, like steal, cheat, murder and rape... we are hurting others!

                David commands Amasa to assemble an army to try and reason with Sheba. He gives him 3 days to complete the task. Impatience David decides to send a second army led by Joab because Amasa was late in returning. The second army catches up with Amasa and Joab decides to kill him; for two reasons: One, it is a rivalry. Amasa took his job! Second, Joab doesn't believe that Amasa is actually on David's side and is worried that he could be against him.

                While Sheba is hiding in the city of Abel, Joab and his army come to the gates and speak with the people, telling them that all they want is Sheba and they won't harm the city. So the people of Abel, decide that they don't want trouble! So they kill Sheba, cut off his head and toss it out to Joab!

                David reigns again and Joab remains the leader/captain of his army!

2 Samuel 17-18

2 Samuel 17-18

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 17: Ahithophel's Counsel is overthrown

                Ahithophel goes to Absalom and counsels him on what they should do with King David. He tells Absalom that he needs about 12,000 men to go and come upon David while he is weak, to make him afraid, so that all the people that are with him will flee from his presence. Absalom is intrigued by this and thinks it might work, but decides to call in Hushai as well to hear what is counsel might be. We know of course from previous chapters that Hushai is actually a spy for King David. So Hushai tells Absalom that if they were to come upon David, they would be walking into a massacre. Referring to David and his men as a mother bear in the field who has her cubs taken from her... they are ferocious men! At this point Hushai knows that this is really not the case, but prays that Absalom will take his counsel, because otherwise David will probably die.

                So David is alerted of this and has time to flee even further. Hushai, essentially is buying time for David.

Chapter 18: Joab Slays Absalom

                David organizes his men, by appointing captains over thousands and hundreds. King David divides his army between three people; Joab, Abishai and Ittai. King David starts to leave with his men, but they plead with him to stay, so that he will be protected and not be captured or killed in battle, because he was very valuable.

                So the armies of David go up to battle against Israel, because Israel had turned wicked in following Absalom. It says that when they fought, the "woods" consumed more men then by the sword. Interesting that God was helping in mysterious ways, that it seemed as if the woods were literally gobbling up Absalom's men. Absalom himself was riding into battle on a mule, when either his hair or his neck was caught in the great oak trees, which caused him to hang from the tree... rejected of both earth and heaven.

                Joab is told by a soldier that Absalom is stuck in a tree. Joab asks the soldier why he did not kill him, because if he had the soldier would have received honor, glory and money. But the soldier reminds Joab that David told them to be gentle with his son and show him mercy. But Joab decides that it is in the best interest of King David and all of Israel to show justice and not mercy to Absalom. So Joab doesn't hesitate in putting three arrows through Absalom. But Absalom was still alive, so Joab commands 10 soldiers to finish the job and throw him into a large pit covered by rocks. It is funny that Absalom raped 10 of his father's concubines, only to be cornered and killed by 10 of his father's soldiers. Joab had this done, so no one would dig up his body to memorialize him as a martyr or hero.

                Two runners are sent to David, to tell him of the outcome of the battle. The first runner brings good news and the second (slower one) brings the news of his dead son. In fact that is the first thing that David asks, is about Absalom. This is a great example of the love that exists between parent and child and even God the Father and his children. No matter what a child does, the parent will always love them. Absalom did all manner of wickedness, yet he was still concerned about him. The Lord is the same way, he loves us all... no matter what we do. But he does mourn for us when we do evil. Because he wants us all to be happy and not live in wickedness. Because wickedness was never happiness!

                David is distraught and mourns, weeps and wails for his dead son... even stating that he wish he could have taken his place.

2 Samuel 15-16

2 Samuel 15-16

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 15: Absalom Conspires Against David

                Absalom conspires against David to take his thrown. Absalom gathers 50 men and their chariots and waits at the gates of the city, and when someone comes with a dispute to be brought before the King for judgment, he would turn them away... but telling them that their dispute was good and right and would sympathize with them, which gave him favor in the eyes of the people. Forty years later Absalom sends spies throughout all of Israel to have all the tribes shout "Absalom reigneth  in Hebron" when a trumpet sounds.

                The conspiracy of Absalom continues to grow stronger and causes a messenger to come to King David to tell him that the people (with the help of Absalom) are conspiring against him. So King David decides to flee with his men and women... only leaving behind 10 concubines to take care of his house.

                king David crosses over the brook of Kidron and also many other tribes with the Ark of the covenant of God. King David asks Zadok the priest to go back to the city of Jerusalem in peace with his sons to be an ear for King David.

Chapter 16: Ahithophel Counsels Absalom

                Ziba meets David on the top of a hill. Ziba was the servant to Mephibosheth. Ziba brings donkeys with supplies to David and tells him that Mephibosheth is planning on bringing the throne of Israel back into the hands of the family of Saul. Mephibosheth knows that it is possible that King David and Absalom will fight to the death and leave the empire for him to sneak in and take control.

                King David assumes that Ziba is telling the truth and gives him glory, honor and all of what Mephibosheth had. David leaves and heads toward Bathurim, where he is met by one of Saul's family, named Shimei... who spends his time cursing and throwing rocks at David, essentially trying to lower his self-esteem and make him weak. At this point David's men are getting upset and ask David if he wants the man dead. But David tells his men; to let him curse! This is a great example of not letting some idiot ruin your day or get you off from where you want to be. Just ignore the stupid people of the world and move forward. Don't let the cursing and insults of the world turn you away from what you know is right.

                David decides to send his friend Hushai unto Absalom to be part of his counsel and be a spy for King David. By doing this, Hushai could give bad advice to Absalom, which would aide in destroying his plot to become king. The reason for this, is that Absalom had very wise counsel, some even said it was almost as good as God's, this counsel came from a man named Ahithophel, who even gave counsel to Absalom to go in and rape his father's concubines, so that no reconciliation could ever be made. Absalom actually follows the counsel given by Ahithophel.

2 Samuel 13-14

2 Samuel 13-14

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 13: Ammon Rapes his Sister Tamar

                Absalom, the son of David had a sister named Tamar and his brother Amnon was in love with her. Amnon had a friend (who happened to be David's brother's son, or Amnon's cousin) who told him that if he loved her, then he should have her. So Jonadab (Amnon's cousin) tells Amnon to make himself sick and then ask David to have Tamar come unto him to take care of him and make him food.

                So David commands Tamar to come in unto Amnon and make him food. After she made him food, Amnon commands everyone in the room to leave, so that he can be alone with his sister. When his sister came to him to give him food, he grabs her and tells her she should "lie down with him", but Tamar fights and pleads for him to not do this, because this would be committing a great "folly" (a stupid idea or act). It says that she told him to not do it, but Amnon being stronger than her, was able to force her, that is what we call "RAPE".  After he is done raping her, he is filled with anger and commands that she leave. Tamar tells him that by telling her to leave and sending her away after he had raped her, was as bad if not worse than the act of raping her in the first place.

From this, we can learn about the Law of Chastity (The law of chastity is a moral code defined by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to the church, chastity means abstinence from sexual relations before marriage, and complete fidelity to one's husband or wife during marriage), President Ezra Taft Benson once said; 

                "There is no lasting happiness in immorality...  Just the opposite is true. There may be momentary pleasure... But quickly the relationship will sour. Guild and shame set in... Love begins to die. Bitterness, jealousy, anger and even hate begin to grow. All of these are the natural results of sin and transgression. On the other hand,  when we obey the Law of Chastity and keep ourselves morally clean, we will experience the blessings of increased love and peace, greater trust and respect for our marital partners, deeper commitment to each other, and, therefore a deep and significant sense of joy and happiness." ("The Law of Chastity," in Brigham Young University 1987-88 Devotional and Fireside Speeches [1988], 51).

                Tamar runs off crying and takes her robe of colors off (that was for virgins), she was ashamed and went to see her brother Absalom, who comforted her and gave her a place to rest from her pain. Absalom was upset and when King David found out, it said that he was "wroth" with anger.

                Absalom has Amnon killed under his hand and Absalom flees to Geshur to get away from everything, King David longs for his son Absalom and his comforted by the fact that Amnon is dead!

Chapter 14: Absalom Sees the King after Years

                Joab decides to try and reconcile the estranged relationship between Absalom King David. We learned from the last chapter that Absalom fled to a city of refuge and in previous books we learn that cities of refuge were actually designed for the innocent and not for the guilty. they were designed to help get away from someone (after accidental manslaughter) so the next of kin wouldn't try and take revenge.

                Three years has gone by and Joab decides it is time to reconcile with king David. So Joab has an elderly woman come in and talk with David about how she was in similar situation. She mentions that we are like water that is spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. Essentially saying that the day of reconciling must be today, because once we die... there is no way to do it.

                Two more years go by and Absalom and King David are finally reconciled.

2 Samuel 11-12

2 Samuel 11-12

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 11: David Lies with Bath-sheba

                The start of the chapter begins with David and his men going into battle to destroy the children of Ammon, and Rabbah. While in Jerusalem, David (from the roof top) notices a very beautiful woman bathing, her name; Bath-sheba.

                David decides that he really likes this woman and has her called into see him. He "lies" with her and she ends up conceiving a child. David calls for the Bath-sheba's husband and has him come to his home. There he gives him food and tells him to wait with him, until the morning. So Uriah (husband to Bath-sheba) stays with David, in the morning David has it arranged so Uriah will go back to battle and puts him on the front lines so that he will surely die in battle, and he does. Now David can be with Bath-sheba and have her, for himself!    

         

Chapter 12: Plural Marriage

                This chapter follows directly from the last chapter, where essentially David lusted after another man's life (against the 10 commandments) and took her to be his wife, after he arranged for her husband to be "killed" in battle.

                The Lord is not happy with this, so he sends Nathan to talk to David and this is what David said;

"...there were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb (a young female sheep), which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man who was come to him," (2 Samuel 12:1-4)

                So to sum it up, one rich man and one poor man. The rich man had everything and the poor man had nothing, except one lamb. So the rich man, instead of killing one of his own lambs for a feast decides to kill the one the poor man has and take everything from him.

                When David hears this, he is outraged and tells Nathan that the man who had done this must die! Nathan tells David that HE IS THAT MAN! Nathan tells David that the Lord had given him everything, the Lord anointed him King over Israel, gave him wives, cattle, sheep and a home. But he still had to go and despise God, by breaking one of his commandments and lusting after another man's wife. Not only did he lust after her, he committed adultery with her and then had her husband "killed" in battle so he could have her.

                So the Lord tells Nathan that because of this, he will take everything from David and his wives will be given to his neighbors. The Lord says that David committed adultery in secret, but he will punish him openly and publicly.

                So here is a question; Is plural marriage bad? The LDS church practiced plural marriage from about 1850 to 1890, the LDS church practiced plural marriage for about 4 decades. Many people condemned the church for this practice, but right here in the Bible it gives us an insight into plural marriage. We know that David had many wives, but he got in trouble for taking another wife. Why? Was it because of plural marriage? No. Because David already had wives, which the Lord had given him. So we learn that when God authorizes plural marriage it is ok. In the case of plural marriage in the LDS church, often times the woman (after having their husbands killed to mobs, who disliked the church) were left as widows. In the 1800's being a widow was not a good thing, because woman had very few rights. So the wealthier more prominent and righteous men took them into their own homes as their "wives", this gave them a place to live and a status in that era. Most of the time, the men still only had sexual relations with their original wife. Not all men in the church could have plural marriage, the prophet through the guidance of God would choose who could and could not have multiple wives. This was due to the fact that the Lord knew certain men would abuse this.

                So, moving on... David repents and feels really bad for having committed this sin.  But the Lord causes the child he had with Bath-sheba to come down with a sickness. So David fasts for several days and lays himself on the earth in prayer and sadness. Even with all this prayer and fasting, the Lord's will was different from David's and his son still passed away. But David arose from the earth, washed and anointed himself in the temple, changed his clothing and worshiped the Lord (2 Samuel 12:20) - this shows the importance of Temples, something that the LDS church has today.

                Bath-sheba was really upset (and rightfully so, her son had just died), but David comforts her and "lies down" with her, and she conceives another son, and they name the son; Solomon. The Lord is pleased with Solomon and blesses him. David conquers the Royal City of the Ammonites. 

2 Samuel 9-10

2 Samuel 9-10

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 9: Restoration of the Land of Saul

                David decides that he wants to honor Jonathan for being his friend and decides to restore the land that once belonged to Saul, to his family. So Saul calls for a search of the family of Saul, they (his servants) find out that Jonathan's son is still alive and he brought before the king. Mephibosheth was Jontathan's son and he was given Ziba as his servant, eating at the kings table and eating the kings bread he was honored.

Chapter 10: Israel Defeats: Amonites and the Syrians

                The king of the people of Ammon dies and King David decides  to send his comfort to the new king, Ammon's son. The new king was named Hanun and when the messengers of comfort and peace came into the land of Ammon, the people of Ammon begin to tell Hanun that Daivd is sending "comforters" who really are spies to spy out the city. So Hanun has the servants humiliated. The servants come back to David and tell him what has happened. David responds by defeating the armies of Ammon and the Syrians who were helping them. Although the Syrians decided to back off before they were really defeated, for fear of Israel.

2 Samuel 7-8

2 Samuel 7-8

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 7: A House of the Lord

                David is blessed with peace throughout his house, David goes in to talk with Nathan the prophet and tells him that he is not sure what to do, because he dwells in a house of cedar (a constructed building), whereas the Ark of God rests in a tent. David offers to build the Lord a house, dedicated to him. A holy temple of God. David's throne through Christ shall be blessed forever. The chapter ends with David offering a prayer of thanksgiving for this great blessing.

Chapter 8: David Defeats Many

                David, with the help of the Lord manages to subject and defeat many of his neighbors. He takes on Moab, Zobah, Damascus, Betah, Berothai, Hammath, Syria, and Edom... making him the supreme ruler over all of Israel.  Executing his judgment and justice unto all of the people.

2 Samuel 5-6

2 Samuel 5-6

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 5: David: King of Jerusalem

                Israel anoints David as king over all of Israel. The chapter tells us that David was 30 years old when he started his reign as king over Israel and that he reigned for 40 years! While he was in Hebron, David ruled over Judah for seven and a half years, and 33 years combined ruler over Israel and Judah. David goes into the land of Jerusalem and takes the stronghold of Zion, which is the same as the City of David. David builds up his city and even has other rulers send him people and materials to build himself a house. Because of all this David thought that the Lord must be with him, so he took more wives and had even more sons and daughters born to him.

                The Philistines find out that David has become king and they are angered, so they come to battle against David. David inquires of the Lord as to whether he should attack, and the Lord comforts him, saying that he will deliver the Philistines into his hands. David smites the Philistines!

Chapter 6: The Ark of the Lord in the City of David

                David gathers the best men of Israel (30,000 men in all) to go and get the Ark of the Covenant. They get the Ark and set it upon a new cart to be carried back from the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah. As they marched back with the Ark, David and all of the house of Israel played instruments of all kinds. Uzzah touches the Ark  (trying to steady it, because the oxen where shaking) and is killed by God for having touched it. Because of this David was displeased and it seemed like he was upset at God/fearing of God because he had killed Uzzah. So David didn't want it placed in his city, so he sends it to the house of Obed-eom, where it rested for 3 months and while it was there, the family and whole house of Obed-eom was blessed.

                David then has the Ark brought into the city of David and he dances before the Lord. This displeases Michal and causes then to be at a distance.

2 Samuel 3-4

2 Samuel 3-4

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 3: David and Saul Wage War

                The war between the house of David and the house of Saul continued on, except David kept getting stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul kept getting weaker and weaker. While in Hebron, David has many sons.

                David's Sons: Amnon, Chileab, Absalom, Adonijah, and Shephatiah, Ithream all born from different women. Abner decides to switch sides and start to fight for the king of Israel, David. David however requests that he get his wife Michal back. Joan however takes Abner aside and hits him under his rib, which kills him. Joab slew Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel in Gibeon.

                Everyone mourns for the loss of Abner.

Chapter 4: Saul's Captains are Slain

                Saul's son finds out about the death of Abner and is distraught, just like the rest of Israel. Saul's son had two men, that were guards. These two men go into the house of Ish-bosheth who was lying in his bed at noon. They hit him beneath the rib and beheaded him (obviously killing him). These two men bring the head of Ish-bosheth's head to King David. These two men thought that David would reward them for killing Ish-bosheth. But instead David reminds them of how he killed a man who claimed to have killed Saul (when really Saul committed suicide). He then asks them, how much more dead they thought they would be for having killed an innocent person. David commands his men to kill the two murderers and has their hands and feet cut off to be hung up over the pool of Hebron and commands that the head of Ish-bosheth is buried in the Sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.

2 Samuel 1-2

2 Samuel 1-2

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

Chapter 1: David Kills the Amalekite Who Killed Saul

                David learns of the death of Saul and Jonathan. David kills the Amalekite who claims to have killed Saul, because of the death of Saul, David weeps over his death and sings a song about their passing.

Chapter 2: David is King of Judah

                David is anointed king over all of the house of Judah.  The followers of David defeat Abner and all of Israel.

Summary of 1 Samuel

Summary of 1 Samuel

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):

1 Samuel 1-2:  Hannah Bares Samuel/Hannah has more Children 
1 Samuel 3-4:  The Prophet Samuel/Eli Dies 
1 Samuel 5-6:  The Ark in the House of Dagon/Don't Look into the Ark of God 
1 Samuel 7-8:  Put Away False gods/Evils of Kings 
1 Samuel 9-10:  Saul to be King/Saul Prophesies 
1 Samuel 11-12:  Saul Comes to the Rescue/Look What God Has Done for You! 
1 Samuel 13-14:  The Lord Chooses Another/God Does not Always Answer Prayers 
1 Samuel 15-16:  Saul Disobeys/Saul Chooses David 
1 Samuel 17-18:  David and Goliath/David Marries Michal 
1 Samuel 19-20:  Saul Seeks to Kill David/David and Jonathan; Covenant of Friendship 
1 Samuel 21-22:  David Gets Help from Ahimelech/David Moves: Running from Saul 
1 Samuel 23-24:  David Continues to Flee/David Saves Saul's Life 
1 Samuel 25-26:  David Marries Abigail/David Spares Saul's Life 
1 Samuel 27-28:  David with the Philistines/Saul Enquires of a Witch 
1 Samuel 29-31: Israel & The Philistines Prepare for War/David Smites the Amalekites/The Philistines Defeat Israel

Summary of 1 Samuel:

                Samuel, is born to Hannah, a woman who was previously unable to have children. Hannah gives Samuel to Israel’s chief priest, Eli, to be raised as a Nazirite. The priesthood in Israel is in a general state of decline, and Eli’s sons are disobeying God’s laws. God declares that he will choose a new priest for Israel from outside Eli’s family and begins delivering messages to Samuel as a young man. Samuel becomes a recognized prophet throughout Israel, delivering God’s messages to the people.

                During battle, the Philistines kill Eli’s sons and capture the Ark of the Covenant—Israel’s religious altar and symbol of God. Upon learning of the attack and robbery, Eli falls over and dies. The Ark is returned to Israel after it causes its Philistine captors to become terribly diseased. As the nation rejoices, Samuel persuades Israel to set aside its worship of local pagan deities, and God helps Israel thwart Philistine oppression for many years.

                The Israelites demand that Samuel appoint a king for them so that Israel will be like other nations. Samuel is displeased, but God grants him permission to elect a king. God notes that by asking for a king, the people have not rejected Samuel; they have rejected God. Samuel warns the people that a monarchy brings wickedness.

                God tells Samuel who should be king, and the following day, a man named Saul appears before Samuel, inquiring about some lost donkeys. Samuel pours oil over Saul’s head to anoint him as king. Saul, pleases the Israelites as king and leads them in rescuing an Israelite town from invasion. Stepping down as Israel’s leader, Samuel encourages the people that, so long as they are obedient to God’s laws, God will not punish them for requesting a king.

                Despite many military victories, Saul soon disobeys God. He tries to rush into battle by performing a ritual war sacrifice without the help of a priest. Later, Samuel sends Saul to fight the Amalekites, instructing Saul to destroy them completely and leave nothing alive. Saul, however, spares the Amalekite ruler and the best portion of their flocks, hoping to present them as sacrifices to God. Samuel rebukes Saul, claiming that obedience to God’s instructions is more important than religious sacrifice. He informs Saul that God will choose another man to be king of Israel. Saul pleads with Samuel, begging for forgiveness. Saul grabs for Samuel’s cloak, but the cloth tears—a symbol, says Samuel, of Saul’s broken kingdom and how it will be eventually torn from him.

                God leads Samuel to the town of Bethlehem to choose a new king from Jesse’s family. Each of Jesse’s older sons are impressive, but God instructs Samuel to judge people not by their external appearances but, rather, by their hearts. Samuel anoints Jesse’s youngest son, David, a shepherd, as king, and God gives divine power to David. God withdraws his power from Saul, cursing Saul with psychological distress in the form of an “evil spirit” (1 Samuel 16:14). David begins his rise to courtly status as a harp-player for Saul to calm his evil spirit.

                The Philistines again threaten to attack Israel, this time taunting Israel with their new hero, Goliath—a giant more than nine feet tall. Saul and the Israelites tremble in fear, but David, arriving to deliver food to his brothers, offers to fight the giant. Refusing the king’s armor, David publicly invokes God’s help and kills Goliath with a single stone shot from his sling. The Israelites attack the retreating Philistines, and Israel returns home to the sound of women singing praises of David’s victory.

                Saul is insanely jealous of David, who becomes an intimate friend of Saul’s son, Jonathan, and leads the Israelite troops to many more victories. After attempting to kill David with a spear, Saul sends David on a suicide mission to kill a hundred Philistine men and bring back their circumcised foreskins. David succeeds, and Saul grudgingly rewards David with his daughter Michal’s hand in marriage. Saul orders his household to kill David, but, with the help of Michal and Jonathan, David flees from Saul. David builds an army of unhappy and impoverished Israelites, and he is joined by a priest who is also fleeing from Saul’s destructive path.

                Saul pursues David into the desert where David spares the king’s life twice. While Saul is urinating in a cave, David sneaks up behind him and cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe, scorning the opportunity to kill God’s “annointed” ruler (1 Samuel 24:6). At night, David and his men sneak into the king’s tent and steal Saul’s spear while he is sleeping. On both occasions, David announces his deed to Saul, and Saul expresses remorse both times, begging for David’s mercy.

                 Saul continues his pursuit, and David takes refuge with the Philistines, who show mercy to the great warrior and adversary of Israel’s king. Preparing to fight the Philistines, Saul is wracked with fear and consults a witch, bidding the spirit medium to conjure up the dead spirit of Samuel. Samuel’s ghost angrily warns Saul that he and his sons will die fighting the Philistines, ensuring the demise of Saul’s kingdom. David and his men head out to fight the Amalekites, and David succeeds in destroying the warring nation. In the meantime, Saul leads Israel into a losing battle with the Philistines, and Saul’s sons, including Jonathan, are killed. Saul commands his armor-bearer to kill him, but the boy refuses, so Saul commits suicide.